in and out? >> yeah. >> everybody was scared. everybody was screaming. >> the bus was reportedly returning from a ski outing to big bear. well, today president obama will travel to minneapolis to push his proposal for broader gun control measures in the wake of the deadly school shooting in newtown, connecticut. tracie potts is live in washington with more on that. there's also a photo of the president that's raising some eyebrows. >> reporter: absolutely. he's traveling to minnesota because the white house thinks this is a perfect backdrop for him to push his gun control measures, it's a city that's done a lot to curb gun violence. as president obama pitches his gun control plan in minneapolis, more reaction to this white house photo, skeet shooting at camp david.

critics are saying it's an obvious effort, as they put it, to pander to conservatives, making the point that the president supports the second amendment while pushing for gun-control measures. >> mark kelley argues checks must be expanded to keep guns away from mentally ill people. his wife was shot gabrielle giffords. >> he could have gone to a gun show or private seller and gotten a gun. >> this super bowl ad accused the nra of making a complete turn around on gun control checks. >> we think it's reasonable to provide mandatory instant criminal checks for every sale at every gun show. no loopholes anywhere for anybody. >> this was the nra ceo. >> the criminals are not going to comply. >> the group responsible for that super bowl ad was mayors against illegal guns, a group found by new york mayor michael

bloomberg. >> a 25-year-old man is being held on charges of killing a former navy seal. he's facing two counts of capital murder in the shooting of death of chris kyle a u.s. sniper who star in the reality series "stars earn stripes." in an interview kyle said he had no regrets about his actions in combat. >> every person i killed, i have a clear conscience of because they were actively trying to harm americans, allies, or civilians. >> ruth was a military veteran, but his motives are still unclear. he's being held on $3 million bond. we are entering the seventh day of the hostage standoff in alabama. a 5-year-old boy is still being held in an underground bunker by jim lee dykes. police continue to negotiate with dykes who is making the boy as comfortable as possible. the boy has received a car and

some cheese and crackers. police say dykes shot and killed a school bus driver last tuesday and abductsed the child. the funeral for the bus driver was held on sunday. as hundreds turned out to pay tribute to charles poland who was hailed as a hero for protecting the other children on the school bus before he was shot. defense secretary leon panetta is defending the government's controversial drone program and reveals that as a catholic he grapples with making life and death decisions. secretary panetta tells abc's "meet the press" that decisions to target suspected terrorists with drone strikes don't come lightly and that u.s. officials make sure they are focused on direct threats to the u.s. while trying to limit collateral damage. you can watch chuck todd's full interview with the defense secretary on line. that's at meetthepressnbc.com. this morning the baltimore ravens are the super bowl champions after defeating the san francisco 49ers 34-31 in a game that went down to the wire but not without a hitch. nbc's jay gray reports on all the festivities from the big easy. >> reporter: after a week of

preparations and parties -- ♪ [ cheers ] >> reporter: the action moved inside. ♪ >> reporter: a poignant start. ♪ spacious skies >> reporter: students from sandy hook elementary singing "america the beautiful," and then -- ♪ o say >> reporter: a powerful rendition of the national anthem by alicia keys followed by the game. baltimore took a commanding lead early, and at halftime -- >> reporter: beyonce commanded the stage. joined a surprise reunion by destiny's child. ♪ all the single ladies the second half began with an electric kickoff return by jacoby jones. then the electricity went out. a loss of power left half the stadium in the dark and caused a 34-minute delay in the game.

>> let's go. >> reporter: when the game ended, it was the niners who had all the energy, mounting a huge comeback. in the end, the baltimore ravens hold on for an exciting win. the end of the super bowl, but the party continues in new orleans. mardi gras resumes. jay gray, nbc news, new orleans. >> that game hurt a little bit. the family of muhammad ali is trying to knock out rumors that the boxing legend is on his deathbed. they released photos of the 71-year-old at his arizona home watching the super bowl in ravens' gear. the rumors were started by "the sun," quoting ali's brother as saying "the greatest of all time" was near death. but, no, bill karins he's still alive. that's what we're hearing. you watched the game? >> stayed up to the beginning of the fourth quarter and that was way past my bedtime. >> both of ours. >> everyone across the country is waking up a little tired. forecast nice and quiet throughout the day today. here's the pattern across the

country. we've had the warm air and intermountain west all the cold canadian air is locked up. that's not going to change much until thursday or friday. that's when a new storm will come down right along the west coast. that will change the weather pattern a little bit across the nation. high pressure is over the top of idaho this morning and the flow around it has some moisture and clouds spilling into the northwest but not a lot of rain or snow or anything that's going to cause you too much concern. we're still protected in southern california. one more really warm day before we switch to an onshore flow and we have those foggy mornings, sunny afternoon. here's how it looks right now. pretty warm. big storm out well out in the pacific heading up to alaska and with the weather pattern the way it is right now a couple of fronts in the northwest, chance of rain on tuesday. showers on friday. more significant weather system on thursday. thursday morning in the northwest and that storm could work its way down the coast. again for most of the week it's quiet until thursday and friday.

today. california, sunglasses. nice warm day. enjoy it. looks like southern california maybe a chance of shower thursday or friday but that's the weather headline. that's it. >> thanks a lot, bill karins. fidel castro's first public appearance in two years. bill clinton bids father we'll to a fred. and madam trousseau melts down lance armstrong's image.

here's some stories making news this morning. officials in turkey are questioning 15 people in the death of a new york city mother whose body was found saturday in istanbul. she had been vacationing in turkey and police say she was

killed by an injury to the head. in cuba the public people got a close up look at retired leader fidel castro. castro voted in the general election at a polling place in havana. new u.s. kansas city john kerry spent the weekend talking to leaders of israel, palestinian, turkey, canada, mexico and japan. and a star in the all american girls professional league baseball league that is in the 1940s has died at the age of 88. she was an inspiration for the movie "a league of their own." a 500-year-old mystery solved in england. scientific tests say a skeleton found under a parking lot was that of king richard iii. he left a trail of bodies including two nephews on the way to the throne. and a spectacular halftime show, brother versus brother and

super ads. did the 34 minute power outage when the game was one sided hurt the rating? the audience numbers will be out later today and it's a story we're keeping an eye on. one company that took immediate advantage was nabisco. their cookie team tweeted power out? no problem. you can still dunk in the dark. that ad received over 14,000 retweets and 5,000 favorites. just in time for lent mcdonald's will offer its first happy meal entree, fish mcbites. it will be available this week and right up to easter. the u.s. government want to make wi-fi networks available across the nation. companies like google and microsoft support this plan but cell phone companies are firmly against it since wireless is a $178 billion a year industry. stocks good news here up almost 7% this year.

a whopping 114% since the bear market low in march of 2009. the dow 14,000 a peak or will the bulls keep running? you can answer that question. baltimore explodes in celebration as the final seconds ticked off the clock. ravens fans spilled into the streets from bars and restaurants creating a massive street party. game highlights are next.

welcome back. now to some stories that caught our eye this morning. we begin in southern california where 300 pounds of dynamite leveled a massive power plant. the implosion completely demolished the san diego facility in a matter of seconds to make room for a 24-acre public park and other projects. fun to watch that stuff. also in california, an out-of-control suv crashed into an apartment building. four people inside the vehicle were injured as it ripped through a first floor apartment, destroying everything in its path. no one inside was harmed. and now to an oregon bakery that refuses to sell wedding cakes to same-sex couples. >> i believe that marriage is a religious institution ordained by god. the book of genesis talks about that. for this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife. >> the owner says he's not homophobic but stands by his religion. the oregon department of justice is investigating. finally in missouri, a kansas city church is showing a sign of support for gay boy scouts.

the church posted a gay pride banner, welcoming all members of the boy scouts of america. the youth organization is set to discuss lifting the ban on gays and lesbians this week. turning to sports, super bowl xlvii looked like a blowout. but turned out to be a thriller. in the first quarter, ravens' quarterback joe flacco connected with antoine bolden for touchdown pass and early lead. in the second, baltimore scored two more touchdowns to make it look like a blowout. they went to halftime with the 21-3 lead. in the third, the ravens' jacoby jones had a record with a 109-yard kickoff return. the longest in super bowl history. and that made it 28-6, ravens over the 49ers. then the power goes out in the superdome. it took 34 minutes before the lights were back on and play was restarted. then momentum shifted quickly as san francisco scored two touchdowns in less than 2 1/2 minutes. in the fourth quarter, niners' quarterback colin kaepernick rolled left and kept going for a 15-yard run for a touchdown. san francisco had a last shot at the end zone, but there was

contact between wide receiver michael crabtree and the ravens' jimmy smith. no penalty flag was thrown. baltimore gave up a two-point safety, and the game ended on a ravens kickoff and 49ers' return as time ran out. the final score, ravens 34, 49ers 31. tough for the folks in the west, no doubt. the two head coaches, brothers jim and john harbaugh met in the middle of the field as john told jim he loved him and jim congratulated john on the win. the ravens celebrated including ray lewis, retiring as a super bowl champ. and the wax figure of lance armstrong will remain in madam tussauds's. since his confession to doping they reworded the caption to say "disqualified seven time winner of the tour de france. just ahead the folks at

breezy point polar bear plunge for a purpose. and which ad got more bang for their $4 million bucks for the super bowl? did your favorite rate there? you're watching "early today" on nbc.

welcome back on this monday morning. after a quiet weekend of weather it continues into our monday. few showers in oregon but that's about it. temperatures continue to be not so bad, pretty nice, 67 in l.a., 66 in vegas.

a little bit below average. tuesday not many changes out there. one thing that will change a front will move through the northwest, light rain four but more significant rain event possible on thursday. all quiet on the western front. >> yes. >> but not quiet on the airways last night. >> no. 55 commercials from 40 advertisers aired during the super bowl, but only one could be crowned king. the clydesdale is back in anheuser-busch's story about the bond between a trainer and his horse. it topped "usa today's" super bowl ad meter, just narrowly beating tide's laundry detergent spot about a miracle salsa stain -- i like thad one -- appeared on a san francisco fan's jersey only to be washed out by his wife who is a ravens' fan. that's what happened last night? lighthearted commercials beat out the more raunchy ones with the top five being rounded out by chrysler's farmers ad, doritos dress-up dad, and jeep's salute to the soldiers.

godaddy.com's bar refeali's smooch ad said it was an utter turnoff. yeah. a lot of people going yikes. thanks to the super bowl, the box office will be probably the slowest time of the year. the zombie flick got $20 million followed by "hansel and gretel" which fell a whopping 53% last week. and beyonce announced she will go off on a word tour kicking off in europe this april and ending at the brooklyn barclay center in august. >> the game was blow-out at half and her performance was great. >> it was a game to watch. this comes to us from wnbc 4 new york in new york city, where at nearby breezy point, dozens braved the chilly water to help victims from hurricane sandy. the courageous souls took part

as part of the rockaway plunge. it raises money for cystic fibrosis. in addition, this year they will donate a portion of the money to hurricane sandy victims. i'm richard lui. this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

in venice a beauty queen is held in high regard. the flight of the angels. centuries-old tradition during carnivale. a gorgeous girl is lifted in the air to the tower of st. mark's basilica as viewers watch her gently descend to the stage.

the celebration has visitors in crafted masks and elaborate costumes. looks great. now canada. dozens of eager racing pups are in it to win it. 26 mushers crossed the starting line for the sled dog race. fans braved temperatures in the 20s to cheer on teams as they left the gate. mushers and their packs are slowly making the 1,000-mile journey from northwest canada to fairbanks, alaska. forget groundhogs. japan has a new way of welcoming spring. around 800 people swarmed a tokyo landmark to throw soybeans in celebration of the spring equinox. goggles and four pounds of soybeans. participants threw the beans at imaginary demons thought to cause mischief on this day. though painful if hit, many said that throwing the beans was a great stress reliever. it's going to hurt. >> i think they are halfway between winter and spring and

that's the celebration? >> we can't wait for spring. it's time for a look at the stories we'll follow early -- secretary of state john kerry arrives at the state department for his first official day on the job. he'll deliver remarks to state department employees. france's so-called spider-man is at it again. alain robert known for scaling buildings around the world without safety equipment or approval. today he will climb a 27-story hotel in havana, cuba. also happy birthday to facebook. the largest social networking site was created nine years ago today on february 4, 2004. all day long, you can stay on top of the latest developments in those stories and others as they break on msnbc. tonight, be sure to watch brian williams with "nbc nightly news." finally, a look at what's coming up later on the "today" show. from beyonce to blackouts, a look at the highs and lows from sunday's extremely eventful super bowl. and the cast members of the 1977 miniseries "roots" reunite. we'll talk about their careers

and making history. now, keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports, and much more. i'm richard lui along with bill karins. thank you so much for watching "early today," just your first stop of the day on your nbc station. have a great monday. [ female announcer ] now get high speed internet at home on our newly expanded advanced digital network, a connection you can count on. at&t u-verse high speed internet offers more speed options, reliability and wi-fi hotspots than ever. go to our website below to get u-verse high speed internet for just $14.95 a month for 12 months with a one-year price guarantee. it's all the speed you need all at a great price. our newly expanded advanced digital network gives you more of what you enjoy online.

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49ers ceo promising another trip to the super bowl after last night's very tough loss. a new carrier coming to san jose's airport. where south bay travelers will soon be able to fly. we give you a shot of the bay bridge toll plaza right now to jump-start your monday, february 4th. this is "today in the bay." it is 4:30 right now. after a tough loss, we want to say good morning, everybody. i'm jon kelley. >> we feel your pain. i'm laura garcia-cannon. lots to get to this morning. hopefully a sunshiny forecast would brighten our day, christina. >> the super bowl is over but the mild days continue. good morning to you. temperatures are all over the place this morning. we are at 36 for instance in gilroy versus 50 in oakland. wherever you are headed, grab that coat. we're headed toward the mid 60s in warmest cities across the bay y.